Windows of Fate
by flameribbons
Summary: Matt is a carefree gamer with exceptional hacking skills. Mello is badass and has significant control in the mafia, fighting for his life in the underground society alone. Until he falls through a window and bumps into fate... Matt x Mello
1. Impact

**A/N: Here goes nothing. I know that I probably can't update this regularly, but you know what, I'm just going to give this a shot. There's really not enough Matt x Mello Fanfics. L and Light get all the acknowledgement. I have nothing against them, in fact I love L and Light. But Matt and Mello just strike my core. So, I decided I won't be selfish and contribute something to my fellow fans. I'm prone to the rush of the moment, so I'm probably gonna regret the decision to upload the first chapter so soon. Eh. Oh well. I deal with it. I'd really like some feedback. Really. Not joking. It really WILL determine how fast I update. Because I might consider putting off the rest until after summer. But if I get positive reactions, I might just put forth the effort.**

**Well I'll just stop ranting now and get to the goodies.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. I like it how the original authors wrote it just fine.**

**Mello POV**

The sky was darkening. The lifeless air was disturbingly still. Only my breaths, desperate and rasping, filled the ringing silence. But I knew that silence wouldn't last much longer. And hopefully by that time, I could be out of earshot. Sooner or later, they would pick up on my trail. These weren't idiots I was dealing with here.

Swathing my cloak tightly around me, I dodged behind another wall; I came face to face with a harmless looking rectangular package sitting on the grimy stone floor. My eyes widened a fraction, attempting to stop my forward momentum. Too late. I felt the trip wire against my legs. In a fraction of a second, my instinctual feline reflexes kicked in and flung my body sideways, reaching for a ragged gap in the wall. Not fast enough.

KABOOM!

It blasted me backwards along with the debris. I landed on my arm with a sickening crunch. Pain flooded from my shoulder, coursing through my veins. Not a sound escaped me. I was never one to voice any pain anyways. I just never had that instinct I guess. Ever since I was small, the first thing had never been to scream when I got hurt. For a moment, my vision blurred and sharpened, to the point where everything began turning white, as if I was looking through the lenses of a camera with bad light filters. After a few shaky breaths and blinking away the sensation, I pushed my unwilling body up to a standing position, and none too soon. My ears were ringing with the aftershock, but I realized just how lucky I got. My final leap had done something at least. I was blocked from the full force to the blow, or I probably won't be in one piece right now. Sounds of a multitude of boots pounding the ground reached my raw ears. I cursed silently. The bomb had most likely been a signal of my location. They were closing in fast. I held my limp arm and ran the opposite direction.

A gunshot. And another. Shit. They probably caught a glimpse of me already. I whipped the over-sized hood over my head, effectively hiding most of my face and hair. Holding my limp arm to my side, I ran on. And they continued firing, the trigger-happy bastards. I would have shot them all down if I didn't still have a need to stay under the radar. My identity, my capabilities, any information at all, would be a stepping-stone to the enemy. What were they thinking anyways? We were in a fucking city for crying out loud. These fuckers are fearless. Or just plain reckless. Bruised and bloodied, I weaved through the streets like a phantom, the panic slightly dulling the biting pain.

**Matt POV**

"I got your back. Yeah. Left! Behind the wall!" Ayu instructed through the microphone. "Nope. I already got him. Yeah, they had a sniper in there."

I clicked away on the controller. She always did the talking; we synced really nicely. To anyone else, this would be impossible. I mean, I was playing and she was talking. So, now everyone else in the FPS thought I was a girl. But that's OK, I could smoke my cancer sticks while I kicked ass. And it gets us those "family bonding moments" without useless camping trips and shit like that. My sister didn't have time for that anyways. Ayu was always busy with her work, being secretary or something to some super important figure.

After a couple more minutes of epic exploding sound effects, we finally won. I set down the controller and stretched, tapping my cigarette against the ashtray at the same time. Ayu took off the headset and mike.

"Break?" I asked, readjusting my goggles over my eyes. After all, she was a normal human being with normal human being needs, unlike me.

"Nah, I gotta go, bro. The airport security has been seriously tight the past few months." She replied, taking a swig of water and picking up her keys. "See ya, Matt."

"Bye." I exited the game, as she closed the door behind her. Maybe I needed to take a break too.

**Mello POV**

I turned a tight corner with the disembodied boots closing in. And froze. I had hit a dead end. They were coming from behind already; I couldn't turn back and get caught. Scanning the area in the matter of a second, I lunged toward a heavily rusting maroon door. The paint was peeling off like an old layer of diseased skin that had sat baking in the sun for way to long.

Gross.

Nonetheless, it opened with a groan and musty air hit me. A stairway greeted my sight. It was probably one of the most gratifying sights I ever saw. A dead mouse here and there, and cobwebs, but you know. It served the purpose.

I climbed the flights of concrete steps and ended up on the roof, stumbling across piles of broken construction items. Selecting a bar of metal piping, I wedged it into the door handle, securely barring it. The pursuers had figured out that I had gone up the stairs. I could hear their clumsy bumbling in there. Nowhere near my lithe grace. Not bragging or anything, it's the truth. But, now where can I go? It won't hold them off for very long. Skeptically, I eyed the roof of the next building. I can make that. It's not that far.

Then what? I asked myself. Don't think, just act. Just do it. I charged toward the edge of the building, ready to spring, heart pounding much needed blood through my fatigued body. But they must've seen me.

BANG. BANG. BANGBANGBANG!

My leg crumpled just as I left the edge, and I realized that I was going to falling short. They got me somewhere on my thigh. In the short moment of hanging in the air, my nerves were clearly not responding. I could vaguely feel the impact of the projectile into my flesh.

Then, my reflection rushed up to meet me… a window. My eyes shut tightly, waiting for impact.

**Matt POV**

It took me a few moments to notice something was off. I had turned off my system, but there were still gunshots going off. Was my speaker doing something funky? Speakers definitely don't retain memory like that so they couldn't possibly be stuck on playback or something. I frowned in concentration. My system was almost brand new with the amount of maintenance I do on it, and I'd be highly pissed if something happened to it. No, on second inspection, the gunshots seemed to be coming from outside. The building crowded ours from the side with the window, so I should be fairly safe from any danger these firearms posed. Just as I was referring back to my video games for the likelihood of shooting into a window this close to another wall, the said window exploded.

In instinctual reaction, I curled in my sitting position and shielded my head with arms. When I uncurled from my defensive position, a bundle of blood stained black cloth met my sight. It shifted and coughed. I yelped. That's when I realized it was human. "It" was also breathing loudly, ragged and struggling. I was scared, but curiosity got the better of me. Let's just say that I was very prone to curiosity, and maybe even sympathy, which is really not a good combination if I wanted to stay out of trouble. I scurried to the invader of my house. It grunted, shifting the fabric so that a golden blond head poked out. It took me a moment to figure out that it was a guy. However, the light locks were far from their original state. Or at least I hoped so.

He was smearing blood all over the linoleum floor.

"Hoooly Zelda…" I breathed out. He had a hazy look in his eyes, and was breathing irregularly from pain, most likely. "Ar-are you OK?" I asked, for a lack of something to say. He turned his unfocused blue eyes on me. An electric tingle ran down my spine.

"What do you think, Idiot?" He growled, giving me the most intense glare I had ever been giving with those piercing eyes of his; even worse than my third grade teacher when I stole a piece of candy from her jar. The thing is, that look was so damn over powering I briefly wondered if I was really an idiot.. He really is something. Not knowing what to say to that, I just kinda stared.

"And close the damn curtains. Unless you want your living room full of bullets-" He cut himself off with a cough, blood trickling down his chin.

I wordlessly scrambled to close the curtains. All the blood certainly hadn't washed off that powerful aura he had.

Then I squatted down next to him.

"I've got a first-aid kit in the bathroom," I pointed at the door. "Do you want me to-"

He was already trying to get up, but failed miserably. Blood was seeping through again and spreading through the dark clothing. Hurriedly, I grabbed his torso and dragged him in the direction. I could tell he was about to protest, but apparently thought better of it.

Placing him against a wall on the floor or my bathroom with his legs stretched out in front of him. As I reached into the cabinet for the first-aid, he was struggling out of the cloak. I reached to give him a hand, but was warned away with a burning glare. He was probably one of those people with a pride complex, and maybe he felt his pride had already been threatened enough today.

I couldn't help but be sickened at the amount of blood and wounds. It was a shocking sight. I had never really dealt with blood and gore in real life. My eyes gradually widened as the material came off. He was dressed in tight black leather from head to toe, ripped, torn, and bloodied in various places. A choked sound threatened to spill out from the back of my throat. Were ALL those guns aimed at him? Who the hell was he?

I set the box of medical supplies next to the mysterious guy and reached for a towel. "If-If you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

He stared me down with a critical eye, while I shifted my line of sight from the floor next to him, to the cabinet behind him, to the intriguing space above his head, unable to meet his eyes. Then the piercing ice blue irises softened slightly.

"I'm Mello."

**A/N: The rating might change in the future. I haven't decided yet. You could also alert me of your preferences, as of ratings. Please review with your muchly, MUCHLY appreciated feedback!~**

**Constructive criticism is encouraged as well, please do give.**

**~Karu**


	2. Free fall

**A/N: So, I could've updated sooner, but there was a complication where my dad was being a jerk and resulted in getting half this chapter deleted because of his jerkishness. I'll spare you the boring details.**  
><strong>Anyways, I had to retype everything, and I already forgot half of what I wrote .<strong>

**So if this chapter has any quirks, you know why, because there are some things that I forget which chapter I put them in. I'll try my best.**  
><strong>Oh, and the Matt in here is the original death note version, brown-red hair, blue eyes. Not the cute little bumbling thing with big eyes :P<strong>

**So thanks for all the support I received! And Favs and alerts! I appreciate them all! I admit, I mostly only write right after I get a review. It's like my wake up call.**

**Enjoy my hard work ~**

**Disclaimer: If you aren't completely new to this site and decided to read this story from chapter 2, you should realize that I do not own death note, it's characters, or have any sort of affiliations with them in any way, shape, or form.**

**Matt POV**

_"I'm Mello."_

Oh. That wasn't really what I was aiming for, but I guess it'll do.  
>Mello, huh? It fit him. Mello wasn't a name you could find just anywhere, and I guess, neither is he. I gazed at him thoughtfully through the orange tint of my goggles.<p>

"And you are…?"

His voice snapped me out of the daze.

"…Matt."

It was pathetic, compared to Mello. I mean, you could go ANYWHERE in the country and find someone named Matt. I take that back… In the entire world probably.

Here a Matt, there a Matt, Matty Matty everywhere… Haha. I laughed to myself humorlessly. All personality has officially been wiped off the name. Especially when it got stuck with me.

There was a really long awkward moment of silence. Mello scrutinized me with the eyes of his, piercing, yet soft. It was impossibly clear. They were intoxicating, since I really don't really look at shiny objects through these goggles much. The world is pretty sepia to me.

Then he caught me staring. Or, I caught him staring at me, since we've been staring at each other for quite a while now. He scoffed and looked away. He started trying to struggle out of his cloak. There was almost a pout on his face. Maybe it was my imagination.

He was attempting to take an arm out, shaking the sleeve off his hand. I wasn't sure if he needed help. I lifted a hand hesitantly and brushed off the sleeve stuck on his hand. And for all my good intentions, all I get is a glare.

So I'm guessing he doesn't want help.

I sit back and frown a little, head tilted down slightly and cocked slightly to the side, looking at him in a slanted angle, trying to figure things out. I concluded that I had a lot of figuring out to do.

He finally succeeded and through the article of clothing off to the side.

He reached for a towel. Quickly snapping out of it, I quickly picked it up and held it out to run water over. When I made a motion to dab his wound, he flinched away and grabbed it out of my hand. I looked at him confusedly.

"I can clean myself." He said gruffly. "This is nothing."

Arrogant? Or insecure? I shrugged. Figuring people out was not a pastime of mine, and this guy was making me do a lot of that. I reached up to the top of a shelf to grab the first aid kit. Inspecting the contents briefly and deeming it well stocked, I set it onto the floor next to Mello. He grunted a rough "thanks" through clenched teeth, not looking up. Hesitating for an awkward moment, I walked out, feeling useless. Where was Ayu when I needed her? I leaned on the wall and started letting the situation sink in. A few minutes passes until I had mustered all my exceptional hacker brain and analyzed my situation. This could be a fucking RPG game. Except it wasn't. Which, with my [non-existent] real life experiences with those, I should probably start freaking out right about...

"Matt?"

I froze for a moment. My attempt to plan any dignified entrance just failed. My mind was wiped blank as a virus swept hard drive. Heh. I knew how blank those were, except for the residue of virus diarrhea.

So I just shuffled in and puffed my cheeks out at Mello. I tended to scrunch my face in various awkward positions when I'm in unknown territory. He'd managed most of the wounds, except for one made by the gunshot. I could see how it was awkward to reach, being on almost the back of his thigh. His face was contorted in concentration, but couldn't get to the relatively deep wound.

Giving up with an exasperated sigh, he offered me the bottle of disinfectant. That was his way of asking without throwing away his pride. As if I had asked and he was grudgingly giving it to me. And how could I refuse?

I scrutinized his laceration surrounded by leather. It had stopped bleeding, and would soon clot with the leather, and THAT would be painful.

"Off with the leather, Mello." I commanded in my best stern voice.

He gave a look of hesitance, but didn't disobey. Even he knew that you can't bandage a wound with clothes on, much less leather.

Wincing slightly, he managed to peel the material off and tossed it aside. I briefly wondered how the hell he managed to fit underpants into those tight leather pants. Pulling him up gingerly, I motioned and muttered, "Bath tub."

I supported most of his weight and placed him sitting on the edge of the off white porcelain tub. Kneeling down into it, I proceeded to clean and rinse off the bullet wound. Luckily, it was a graze that tore through the top of his skin, leaving behind a gap as if he has been sliced with a rough blade. There were no bullet shells inside, saving me the trouble of sticking my fingers into the gory mess. Thank Mario.

I could feel him shaking, teeth clenched tight. My stomach flipped just thinking how much that must hurt. I'm crazy to be doing this. I should have just driven him to some hospital. End of story.

But believe it or not, I have some knowledge of these going ons. As a hacker, I don't live in a world full of sunshine and rainbows. Ayu runs into trouble a lot too; apparently all the bad guys in the world are after her Mr. I-Got-Lotsa-Money employer. She'd made me take classes such as CPR certification and first aid such as this. I'm a pretty good shot too, with a few summers spent honing my skills ever since high school. I don't know why I would ever need to shoot people outside of video games, but I guess this situation is a lot less scary if I can. Of course, my video games helped the reflexes too. It seems like she knew something like this was going to happen. Well, I guess you could tell by just the kind of world we live in. I promise never to whine pitifully again when she makes me do this medical first aid crap.

Anyways, Mello's just been staring at me the entire time I was bandaging his wound, brows furrowed in thought. It probably needed stitches, but I'd worry about it later, hoping to get him to a hospital and get it professionally done.

On closer inspection, it seems that he hadn't gotten to a piece of shrapnel imbedded in his back either. He'd have to have been a contortionist to do that.

"Am I done?"

"Shirt off, Mello." I commanded gruffly.

He complied with the barest hesitation. He went about it gingerly as the motion tugged at the open injuries.

Carefully peeling the skin open to inspect, I found the debris in one piece, thankfully. His shoulders tensed in pain. Muttering apologies under my breath, I yanked out the unidentified object from his flesh with a tweezer.

"Fuck!" he cried out in pain, taking in rasping breaths and digging his nails into his knee. His head was down, thrown forward from the sudden shock, and the wound was trickling blood. That was the first time he had made any noises of pain during the entire process, and I was impressed. This guy was tough, trained and dangerous. A shiver of admiration sparked through me.

Upon close inspection, I found that the price of glass had a rugged end that must've dug into his flesh as I removed it. It was no wonder at the reaction. I kept down silent curses. I should've been more careful.

Placing a reassuring hand upon his shoulder blade, I began the process of cleaning it out. He looked like he was close to passing out from either pain or exhaustion, most likely both. As I wound gauze around his chest and back, I felt him leaning bonelessly into me as I wrapped my arms around him in a hugging position to get the roll of gauze around his front. Satisfied at last with my work, I stepped back and uttered a noise of approval. It was eerie how few words we exchanged, but there was that awkwardness. It wasn't every day someone falls through your window.

After an hour, I had practically shoved some food down his throat and outfitted him in some of my clothes, ignoring his protests. His own clothes were reduced to mere bloody rags by now. With more color back into his face, I made him rest.

I felt a little less helpless now, but Ayu would be proud of me. But then again, nowhere in her safety regulation does it say, "take care of dodgy characters that fall in through your window preceded by multiple gunshots."

I walked back into the room where I had left him lying on the couch only to find him taking pained steps towards the door.

"Mello!"

He started and turned around, a guarded feline snarl on his face. "You shouldn't have come in. No one should know of my whereabouts. My breath hitched. The handle of Ayu's emergency gun dug into my hip as I took an unconscious step forward. He was leaving in this state? While whoever it was could probably still be out there?

My worries about him grounded to a halt as he pointed his gun straight at my chest, a face twisted into a bittersweet expression.

"Thanks for everything, Matt. You're a good kid."

I stared in horror. Past his gun. Past his arm with the gun. And my gaze fell on the door behind him.

"Too bad I didn't get to see-"

And he flicked his safety off.

But I beat him to it. Gamers' reflexes whipped out my weapon and pulled the trigger with trained accuracy. And I hit home.

"-your eyes..."

**Bang!**

A body hit the floor.

**A/N: Sorry for da cliffy. I couldn't resist**

**You gaiz have bookofathousandwords to thank for that final review that finally pushed me to finish this update. I am sooooo busy with this rotating schedule thingy… confusing as HELL**

**Sooo I was suddenly reminded of a poor cast aside fic and got back on it. Proof that reviews DO ACTUALLY MOTIVATE! It's not just a trick to make you review XD**

**So, I'm glad you all enjoyed it! It might be A WHILE for the next update, so I apologize profusely beforehand. Gomen nasai…**

**Luv Matt and Mello to death 3 see ya next time luvs!**

**~Karu**


	3. After Shock

**A/N: ...Wow... Um, you guys are really good at guilt tripping me XD all the "oh I understand, but I'm gonna be sad" comments. Yeah I'm weak against those. So I updated waaayyy sooner than I expected. I happen to be staying home sick so I was like, I guess I'll work on an update.**

**Hopefully this clears up some confusion and angst... haha I know it did sound like what people thought it was. But I was **_**NOT **_**gonna end the story almost before it began -_- that would... not be a smart thing to dooo... Yeah.**

**Idk. Just going with the flow. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I'm sorry for being a sarcastic ass in the last disclaimer; I'll do it properly this time. I am in no way affiliated to Death Note or its characters.**

**This chapter has been edited 9/3/12**

**3rd person POV**

A body hit the ground.

Mello spun around wide eyed. The tall figure clad in khaki had crumpled noiselessly in the door way. The gun, previously pointed at Mello, dropped to the floor with a clatter. Matt froze like a deer caught in headlights. He had just killed a person. The blood running through his veins went cold. Mello, however, recovered first and began to drag the body in and slammed the door shut. Matt dropped onto the couch like a sack of flour.

"I... Just killed a man." He muttered desperately. "I killed him."

Mello, crisis over with, snapped out of autopilot and smothered his face momentarily with his hands as pain ripped through him; both physical and psychological. In his field, it was blood thirst and revenge. Everything else was thrown aside. Every man for himself. Information was power. Abiding by the law was almost raw instinct. Killing Matt, of course, was the correct thing to do; it was clearly stated in red letters written in blood in the rules of the life and death game. Matt in turn, according to his way of survival, should have tried to beat Mello to fire while he was hesitating. But the problem was, Mello never hesitated. Why did he hesitate now? Was he turning soft? That was a scary thought. There were no softlings in this industry; they were simply not allowed by the same concept as Darwin's evolution theory. They were dead.

But for this once, he didn't know if it really was the right thing. If only that fraction of a second, it was long enough. But instead, Matt protected his would-be murderer. As the man had been after Mello, he would have been safe, and Mello would have died. But he had smashed the rule into little tiny pieces and tossed them through the Mello-shaped hole in the broken window and into the wind. Now Mello couldn't even find it. It had become confused and scattered, and that scared Mello. He had always lived in the fatal predictability. He thread he had been hanging on to throughout his entire life had just snapped with one gunshot from Matt. Right after losing his father too, now this was to go as well.

"Why?" He demanded in a broken voice. "I was about the kill you, and yet, you murder a person to save me?" he cried. "I could've still shot you! Why?" His voice rose close to hysterics.

Matt shook his head numbly. "It just... Felt right."

"Felt right?" The blonde echoed in a hollow voice. The concept was so alien to him. Was it possible to feel something such as 'right'? Is that why he hesitated for that fraction of a second?

"What are we supposed to do with the body?"

"We could dump it out the window. There were gunshots from before so they might think he was a victim or something."

Matt nodded and moved to comply to prevent Mello from hurting his injuries. He spent a lot of effort on those.

"Are you still gonna kill me?" Matt asked timidly.

Mello groaned. "I wish I could."

Matt looked hurt.

"But how could I bring myself to do it after that stunt you pulled?"

Biting his lip, Matt weighed his odds. Then, in a small voice, he tested the waters. "Then, can I have a reward?"

Mello narrowed his eyes.

"Reward?" he rolled it off his tongue. That word smelled and tasted like money, but he really wasn't so sure this time.

"Yeah. Can I ask you to tell me about yourself?"

A look of distrust crept back into Mello's face. "Next to no one knows my story. It could be dangerous."

Matt considered for a moment, then smirked.

"You wanted to see my eyes? Next to no one has ever seen them. But I'll show you if you tell me."

He tapped the orange tinged lenses for emphasis.

Mello's eyes widened. "I did, didn't I? Right before I..."

He shifted his eyes to the intricate patterns of the spider web on the corner of a wall to avoid Matt's cool gaze.

He looked amazingly like a hunted animal. Never in his life had any conflict been so emotional. They were just the kind of whether you do it or you don't. The smart, strong, and ruthless survive. This was alien territory, and Mello felt like a fish out of water.

And Matt, however much he hated dealing with hard to read people, felt this mental collapse on Mello's part.

Heaving himself off the couch, he approached Mello cautiously, afraid to set him off. The blonde turned calculating eyes onto him, watching his every move, metaphorical tail between his legs.

Hands slippery with cold sweat, the hacker carefully pushed his goggles above his eyes and over his head, rearranging his bangs a tad self-consciously. Why did this guy deserve his special treatment? He could have been his murderer under different circumstances. But he knew. It was the feeling of responsibility you get when you pick an injured puppy off the street. No matter how much it squirms and bites, you just can't bite it back and throw it out. Ayu had found one a long time ago. The experience had a lasting impression, but whenever it was brought up, hearty laughter soon followed. But this time, there would be no Ayu, and Mello certainly wasn't a dog. He fixed his line of sight upon the said blonde.

Mello was hit full on with the innocent bright sapphire gaze. True, he was curious, but only expected the secrecy to be a whim like his. Never had he imagined that Matt had been hiding jewels behind those orange abominations.

Matt tilted his head to wait for Mello's judgement. The filtered light of the oncoming evening hit his face just so, outlining his defined jawline and tendons in his neck. His messy red-brown hair framed those stunning orbs fixed on Mello. He shifted his slender shoulders a bit.

Mello's breath hitched. The charm was undeniable. They simply stood staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. The cool sweep of the AC hummed. He was undeniably attracted to him; there was no way to deny.

Mello, still weak from blood loss, shivered and felt a wave of nausea wash over him. His vision contorted and felt as if he was wearing prescription glasses in the wrong prescription. He leaned back on the wall with a soft groan and slid down the surface to the carpeted floor. Matt was beside him in a moment.

"You really need to stop moving, or you're gonna kill yourself."

Mello cracked open an eye warily.

"Promise not to shoot me while I'm not looking?"

The injured blonde grudgingly nodded while worrying his lips with his teeth.

"Good boy."

Mello growled and reminded himself to kill this idiot later. And succeed next time. He could have sworn he heard Matt snicker. A more painful death should suffice.  
>His thoughts flew from his mind as he was lifted off the ground in surprisingly sturdy arms.<p>

Matt ignored a protest and made his way to his room, laying Mello down gently on his bed with some effort.

"Really? Zelda?" Mello snorted at his bed decor.

Matt sniffed indignantly. Mello's heart skipped a beat at the pout adorning the hacker's features.

"Are you gonna tell me about why you happen to be here? I showed you my eyes." he motioned to the goggles fastened securely over his eyes again.

Mello gave it some thought. "My father was assassinated right before something important, since he was leaving to meet his secretary at the airport when it happened. Some of them just caught on my trail even though I'm in a different location. It's... Complicated. I have a lot to deal with now, which is why I was _going_ to shoot you. Like I said. It's complicated."

"Assassinated? Was he important? What was he to have a half wild son like this?" Matt grinned crookedly, albeit humorlessly, trying to lighten the heavy topic.

Mello just stared at him. Having spilled enough, he wasn't going to keep on talking.

"Whatever. Just get some sleep and water. I'll put some on the nightstand. I'm gonna go shopping in a bit for more bandages. We ran out."

Matt turned and swept out of the room. Mello allowed a small smile grace his lips.

Apparently, he had fallen asleep since he woke up sometime around dusk. Gingerly, he removed himself from bed and stabilized his footing. A monster of a headache was coming on, but he ignored it.

"Matt?" He called warily as he stepped from the room.

No answer. He must've gone shopping.

Mello set to work wordlessly. He'd take Matt's clothes as his are too torn and would definitely stand out. Grabbing his gun and some leftover bread from the countertop, he deemed himself ready for the road. The Mafia would be in chaos with the death of their leader. Mello had to get back. He felt a twinge of guilt for deserting Matt for all his kindness, but it had to be done. He had developed strange feelings for the kid that didn't need any more reinforcing. Mello was a danger to everyone now, and the brunette had already done more than enough. One day, he promised himself, the hospitality will be repaid. He wasn't an unthankful mongrel.

The blonde barely made it down the stairs and out the door a ways before he saw the parked red Camaro. He swore to himself.

Matt, with an arms full of plastic bags, halted at the sight of Mello.

"Mello! What do you think you're doing?" Matt squeaked in disbelief.  
>Caught red handed, the blonde walked straight up to Matt with apology shining in his eyes. He places his hand on Matt's arm and slid it down a ways to his elbow, needing some form of contact to aid him.<p>

"I'm sorry, Matt. But this is the way it has to be. Don't worry about me. I grew up this way."

"M-Mello..." Matt choked out.

"Thanks for... Everything. I will repay you somehow, one day."

This was probably the biggest fucking most cheesy speech he has ever made to anyone. And later he would mentally beat himself up over how pathetic he sounded, but it felt necessary at the moment. He was too apologetic to really stop himself from utter embarrassment.

Matt stepped towards him instinctively with bewilderment showing even behind the orange tint of his goggles. They were now close enough to tell that Mello was a couple inches taller than Matt. He had to look up a bit.

"I hope," Mello's voice had dropped to barely a whisper, "We will meet again."

And he knew what Matt meant by saying it "felt right". He didn't really give a fuck anymore, and decided to spoil himself for a couple seconds by not thinking of consequences and not being in his right mind. He brought his head forward and brushed the hackers slightly parted lips with his own. His hand had unconsciously slid up and caressed the jawline that he had been admiring earlier that day soothingly. The grocery fell to the ground unnoticed. Matt unknowingly molded his lips to fit seamlessly with Mello's. Mello pulled away, preferring to leave it chaste. He wanted to separate this from the ruthless making out in the world he lives in, where sex was entertainment, ways of making money, and sometimes torture. Somehow, they were standing flushed together, breathing in each other's faces.

"Bye."

And just like that, Mello slipped away into the oncoming darkness, swallowed by the gloom.

"See ya." Matt whispered into the ringing silence left behind, nervously touching his lips.

Gathering up the groceries, he trudged back into the house as if Mello had never been then.

Just like that, a year passed without a trace of the blonde that was constantly in a corner of Matt's mind. Wondering if he was alright, what he was doing now. The incident already felt like the long past.

Ayu had suddenly become busy during this time, only returning long enough for a meal and sleep after weeks of being away. She became haggard and matured quite a bit despite only being in her twenties. And Matt worried. The last time he'd had any quality time with his sister had been that fateful day when Mello came crashing into his life. Literally.

His life was boring once again.

However, it was about to take a dramatic turn.

His phone rang. Who the fuck dared to call him in the middle of-

"Matt!"

"Ayu?"

Her voice was strained.

"Are you home?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You need to get out of there. Now. Pack whatever you need and hack yourself a plane ticket. I'll be waiting for you at the airport here." Her voice was commanding and Matt didn't hesitate to obey, despite his confusion.

The hacker set to work, packing all his electronics and booking a flight out of England illegally.

"Mind explaining?"

There was a pause.

"Remember my employer?"

"Yeah."

"He was assassinated about a year ago by a revolt."

There it was. The word 'assassinate' again. It was an uncommon word to be spoken by anyone but the press, unless it was for historic reasons, and that was why it stood out so much. Or maybe it was just burned deep into his memory, just like every other word that fell from Mello's lips.

"Things have been chaos. They're going after me now. I'm safe and hidden, but they'll go search at my house..."

"And they'll find me..." Matt deduced.

"Exactly."

"Ayu, will you tell me exactly what's going on? Why is everyone trying to kill people at your work?"

"Alright. You deserve the truth. I worked for the Russian mafia boss."

Matt almost dropped his phone. Now this was insane.

"Wait what." He flat lined. "…If he's dead, then who do you work for now?"

"His son. That kid is quite the character. Takes after his father... He WILL keep us safe. Hurry brother. Time is running short. I'll be waiting for you."

The line went dead. Before shutting off his laptop, he looked up the mafia assassination incident. Looked up, referring to hacking through a government website as easily as some people surf through Google.

As he settled in for his flight, the information wracked through his mind.

He wasn't dumb, or unobservant. He had noticed it, with a strange tug at his guts. Mafia. Assassination. Father, son. The time range as well. But there were many horrible deeds being done in this world every day, and Matt knew better than to live in a fairy tale. He had learned long ago that the excitement of a coincidence was not worth the disappointment afterward. So he let it go and sent the thought off to a happier place.

Taking his flight itinerary and stuffing it into his bad hastily, he thought about his sister's words. "His son. That kid is quite the character."

_Mihael Keehl, huh?_ He shut the door and locked it.

**A/N: really fast update thanks to a whole day off. And the hailstorm of reviews I got pelted with. Thanks everyone!**

**Anywayz, the credit of the reviewer who finally pushed the update goes to PandasWithDeathNotes, shinigamimailjeevas, and wishingbell!**

**Thanks again! If there's a quirk in my writing where you think something went unexplained when I should have, feel free to tell me! I will forever luv u! And I'll try to fix it unless it messes up the storyline too much. Again, I did NOT expect so many reviews in such a short amount of time. It was like, instantly 8 reviews the next day when I check o.o almost died of happiness XD**

**Don't expect the next update to be this soon. I can almost cry at the amount of work I'll have next week. Between extra stuff like dance and the stupid choir teacher wanting a violin to play for her concert. It's hard being the only person to meet the violin demands of my entire school of over 2000 peeps. Hectic.**

**But I'm pretty sure u ppl aren't interested in my life, haha, so I'll just stick with telling Matt and Mello's.**

**But, that's my excuse for the next wait.**

**Til then!**

**~Karu**


	4. Repercussion

**A/N: I'm sooo sorry for the REALLY, REALLY long absence. But there was a serious lack of reviews last chapter XD**

**But, thank you! Those who reviewed, subscribed, or favorited this story!**

**As always, I am back with an update and ANOTHER warning about the next update being a loooong way off. But, I'm seriously too busy for my own good.**

**Also, ummm… Crap I just forgot.**

**Oh! I was gonna ask, do you guys notice how my writing style like….. changes every single chapter so it sounds like different people wrote each chapter? Yeah I'm seriously confused. I must have split personalities :O**

**Read, enjoy, bug me, complain, and REVIEWWWW! Oh, also answer that question right there ^ if you have noticed, or didn't really.**

**But yeah. Here is the beginning of new drama! Yay!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or Matt or Mello or the Mafia. I own Ayu though. But I swear she isn't some annoying chick who ends up being pretty much the main character later on who ends up with some important guy because the author feels like forcing her hopes and dreams onto this OC.**

**K enjoy!**

**This chapter has been edited 9/3/12**

**3rd person POV**

A rather large red van pulled up at the airport terminal. With a click, the back door slid open and several men and a woman stepped out. A few straightened their clothes and walked off with a peculiar swagger without as much as a backward glance at the others. The lady, looking barely out of her teens, gave a tiny smile in the direction of the front seat before closing the door carefully left, her shock of apple red hair disappearing into the crowd.

After a momentary pause, the driver side opened, and a stately man in his fifties skirted the hood of the car and opened the door on the other side. He stood regally, clad in semi-formal garments in contrast to the previous passengers who were dressed inconspicuously in casual attire. However, as the man riding in shotgun stepped out, all inconspicuous attempts were screwed. The first thing one would notice was the skintight black leather wrapped around his lean frame. His posture was slightly girlish, but radiated danger. As if it weren't already enough, there was pristine blonde hair framing his face.

Now that anyone has made it all the way to his face without getting shot for staring, they would probably die of shock by looking at it anyways. At first it would seem as if a girl decided to look tough and play rough, but on closer inspection, you can see the masculine sharpness to his complexion. His guarded expression commanded authority, assuring anyone within range of his superiority, and his ice blue orbs told you that yes, he bites. Hard.

However, looking past all that, he was just a boy - to the endless fascination, and sometimes annoyance, to some of the lower ranked of the subordinates. Many a man or woman has tried to pull a move to get a slice of the beautiful body, or powerful position for that matter, and none lived too long after that.

Somewhere, a baby stopped crying.

Waving a hand at the driver, the blonde dismissed him casually.

"Good luck with N, sir."

The younger nodded in acknowledgment.

And with that alluring catwalk, he was swept up with the tide of people entering the Airport.

The baby began wailing once more.

**Matt POV**

I was finally out of the claustrophobia of the sea of people in the airport.

After wearing down my handheld's buttons for a couple hours, I finally got bored.

Or maybe it was because my batteries ran out.

As if that weren't bad enough, there was this kid sitting next to me with his knees brought all the way up to his chin, all dressed in white pajamas. Although a lot of people were staring at the odd albino features, I succeeded in being polite and not gawking. But that favor was not returned as the little creep ogled me THE ENTIRE TIME.

Soooo not cool.

So, anyways, when the flying hunk of metal FINALLY landed, I almost literally jumped up in my haste to get out.

It wasn't until I was half way to the arrival gate after getting my baggage full of electronics that I noticed I had a shadow. I certainly didn't know shadows were white. It was that fluff ball from the plane. See, the airport is a busy place, and full of ill-mannered people. That kid was using me as a human shield and jostling along behind me creepily.

Damn that pisses me off. I growled. But before that, I might have nearly jumped out of my skin in surprise when I saw him.

"If Matt feels uncomfortable, Matt should say so."

What the hell it can talk?

Then second question. How the fuck does it know my name?

"Your bag has a name tag on it."

"What the f-"

It can read minds too?

I think my eye twitched.

"I cannot read minds. You're just a readable person."

Ok this this kid is getting on my nerves.

"You know what, I don't know you, so I'm not gonna do anything potentially violent to you, but, I think you should realize that tailgating is illegal in many countries."

He was just about to reply when-

"Matt!"

I turned around. "Ayu!"

She was just approaching, looking happily flustered and hugged me.

"Who were you yelling a-"

She looked behind me, at where the albino stood and promptly froze up.

"N-near-sama... You've arrived!"

"Who's Ne-"

I was about to ask, but got interrupted.

"Yes, Ayu-san. I assume Keehl is here as well?"

Wtf? For the 17th time today!

"Wha-" I started to ask my sister, but she shushed me and patted my shoulder absent-mindedly.

Instead, she turned to the smudge of white, as if he was soooo much more important. By the way she was treating him, he probably was. And that annoyed me a little.

Ok maybe a tad more than a little. Who's sister was she anyways?!

"Yes, the boss is here. He actually came to pick you up so he should be around here somewhere..."

Its- ... Ok. I'll just call it a "he" now. Since apparently it was a he and not an "it". So anyways, his expression was absolutely unchanged, as if he was discussing the Sunday paper with the janitor who happened to be cleaning his office at the moment, except he probably wasn't even old enough to HAVE an office, much less a janitor to clean it for him. Wait, I'm getting off track here.

Merely nodding, he looked Ayu in the eyes before answering, "Ah yes. You mean he came to make sure I wouldn't cause him any trouble."

Ayu flinched.

Little fucker...

"Ermm... Well, anyhow, let's not keep him waiting. I'll bring you- oh there he is!"

She looked past me and waved. I was getting absorbed into a staring contest with Close. Or whatever his name was. Eww dead fish eyes...

Ayu patted my back a couple of times nervously as she walked past.

Vaguely listening to their conversation, I figured that was the Boss by earlier conversations and the way she spoke to him. But when HE replied, I froze solid, resulting in me winning the staring competition because Close just blinked! Ha! Oh, anyways, that voice was so familiar. The ice wrapped in fire. It was as if some random stranger from a dream had materialized before me while I spaced out, but it was real. Where have I heard that voice before?

I didn't want to turn around, for some reason. I didn't want to found out who it was. That voice brought forth many emotions for no reason at all. Was it a famous person maybe?

"... The others have safely retrieved their families. We are going into a lock down at the base as soon as we arrive. It is no longer safe, even for a family as large as us."

"I understand sir. I'll issue the protocol as soon as I can."

"Have you found your brother?"

"Yes, he's right over there with Near-sama."

Oh. So that was his name.

"Damn. He's got a really nice ass." The boss remarked crudely.

"S-sir?" Ayu squeaked.

That caught my full attention. At first, I had been uninterested and slightly distracted, but that snapped my head up. I was a little bit disgusted. That was Ayu's boss right? What if he was some middle-aged pervert? Certainly, his voice doesn't sound all that old but you can never tell. So I couldn't stop myself from turning around.

And came face to face with the brightest ice-blue eyes I have ever seen. Actually, it happened to be the same shade as another set of piercing eyes in my memory of over a year ago. So it's tied for first.

I'm sure my face looked pretty amusing, because he laughed. And who was he, you ask? My eyes wandered up and down the familiar figure. Still the same, down to the skin tight leather and combat boots.

Next thing I know, he was a lot closer than I would've liked, and that taunting voice whispered into my ear, "I guess my debt to you will be amply repaid. Right, Matt?"

And just like that, he stepped back and shook my hand like nothing happened.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Mihael Keehl." He introduced himself, still with a glint of mischief in his tantalizing orbs.

I found a smirk tugging at the corner of my lips.

"Matt."

I replied simply, letting go of his hands.

Ayu looked faintly surprised.

**3rd Person POV**

They bundled into the car with twice as many people as before and sped out of the airport.

"He seems to like you, Matt." Ayu was saying, "He never seriously greets anyone unless it's for business."

"Yeah?" Matt answered halfheartedly. "So he's the son of your old boss?"

"Yeah... But just be careful around him, before you know what he's capable of..." She warned worriedly.

As if Matt wouldn't know what he was capable of, but he nodded nonetheless.

"Mihael... Keehl?" Matt turned the name over on his tongue. _I thought it was Mello._

Ayu nodded. "That's his given name. He also has an alias, but no one knows of it."

Matt jolted. "Why?"

He uses it for other dealings. Whoever he introduces himself to using the mystery alias, he expects them not to be able to trace it back to him... Or be dead before they can."

The younger shivered. _He was supposed to be dead himself._

As they pulled into a large parking garage, Mihael began unbuckling his seatbelt. In a moment, he had jumped out the window. _Of a moving car! _Unlocking the rusty door that led to the basement level, Matt watched him reveal a cleverly hidden high tech security scanner. The rust was a ruse. Soon, they were in, and swallowed them up into the belly of the mafia's emergency base.

**A/N: I'm... ending it here cuz I don't wanna think right now. Brain hurting...OK so! Leave me reviews, whether good or bad. Try not to be rude. Or I'll accidentally bang my hand on the wall behind me doing the motion that goes with **_**Oh no you ain't just gimme dat attitude!**_

**Thank you once again to previous reviewers! Love ya love ya love ya. I'm sure people are relieved that Mello didn't get shot by Matt. are there people who are disappointed by that? Anyone? Just wondering. I mean, Why would I kill off the main character? Then this story would have no point. or be an angsty drabble which serves relatively the same purpose. Nothing against angst or drabbles. They are fine once in a while.**

**Um... I have nothing else to say.**

**See ya next time~**

**Karu**


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